** The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.8 percent to 3,184.47, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.4 percent to 2,601.72. ** China will allow insurance firms to invest in tier-2 capital bonds and perpetual bonds issued by banks, and set up a central bank bills swap to improve the liquidity of banks’ perpetual bonds, policymakers said on Thursday. The move will make banking shares more attractive to investors, analysts say.

** Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is due to visit the United States at the end of this month. Mixed messages came out of the White House ahead of his trip. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Thursday the two sides were still “miles and miles” from a deal, while Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Beijing and Washington were “making a lot of progress”. ** The CSI300 financial sector sub-index was higher by 1.31 percent.

** The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 0.18 percent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was unchanged. ** Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 1.18 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei index closed up 0.97 percent. ** At 07:31 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.763 per U.S. dollar, 0.36 percent firmer than the previous close of 6.7875. (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)